And yet another loss at the PNC Arena for the Ottawa Senators, who let a third-period lead slip away en route to a 2-1 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Add it all up and the Senators came out of the all-star break the way they went into it: With a defeat. The losing streak is now at six games.

Victor Rask broke a 1-1 deadlock by scoring on a power play with 8:32 remaining in the third, beating Senators goaltender Craig Anderson to the shortside with a shot from outside the faceoff dot.

Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes while Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the Senators lone goal.

“I thought we were playing a really good game and (Anderson) in net was standing on his head,” Pageau said. “He gave us a chance to win that game and we gave up a goal on the penalty kill and that’s something we’ve been struggling with for the past few games.”

Photos: Senators at Carolina Hurricanes/Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018

With all due respect to Anderson’s play for the most of the night, though, the Rask goal was a weak one. It also brought back memories of the Senators previous defeat — 3-2 to the Boston Bruins last Thursday — where fellow Senators netminder Mike Condon allowed a late, soft goal after being a standout previously in the game.

“This was one of those nights where one mistake was going to cost you the game and that’s what happened for me,” Anderson said. “It just hit me inside my hand and squeaks through. You’ve got to keep battling through it (and try to) give the team a chance to win.”

While the game featured two starting goaltenders who have struggled all season — Anderson entered the game with a .901 save percentage and Cam Ward checked in at .904 — they took turns keeping the game scoreless for more than 38 minutes.

Finally, with only 1:12 left in the second period, Pageau broke the ice. After taking a pass from Zack Smith in the slot, his shot deflected off the leg of Hurricanes defenceman Jaccob Slavin and dipped in front of Ward.

Aho received a fortunate bounce of his own to tie the game only 1:49 into the third period. His slapshot deflected off the stick of Thomas Chabot and between Anderson’s legs.

Aho now has 10 goals and five assists in his past 11 games. After the third-period goal, the Hurricanes pressed hard in a push to take the lead.

As was the case in the opening two periods, Anderson was sharp. He stopped 18 shots in the second period alone.

Ward, meanwhile, made several big stops of his own late in the second, including a trapper save off Mike Hoffman and a right toe stop off Derick Brassard, who slipped behind the Hurricanes defence.

Before the Pageau goal, the Senators were somewhat snakebitten. Chris DiDomenico, who had a solid game on a fourth line with Colin White and Alex Burrows, hit the post in each of the first two periods. Chabot, who was celebrating his 21st birthday on Tuesday, also hit the post in the first period.

The PNC Arena has been a house of horrors for the Senators for the past nine years, with Ottawa now posting a record of 2-11-3 here during that span.

The Senators also entered the game riding a five-game losing streak, fully understanding that the playoffs aren’t happening this spring.

The Hurricanes, however, have high hopes of making the post-season for the first time since 2009.

They entered the game four points out of a wild-card spot and own a favourable schedule. Tuesday’s game kicked off an eight game homestand for the Hurricanes.

While the Senators remained without leading scorer Mark Stone due to a knee injury, Aho’s return created a spark for Carolina.

Four minutes in, Anderson made a sharp right pad save off a deflection by Aho and his game got stronger from there.

The Senators, however, picked up their pace, outshooting the Hurricanes 10-8 in the first period.

It was a largely uneventful game for Magnus Paajarvi, playing his first game since being plucked off waivers from St. Louis last Friday.

Paajarvi, playing primarily on a line with Brassard and Ryan Dzingel, had 9:18 of ice time in the opening two periods.

The Senators were scheduled to fly home to Ottawa immediately after the game and were due to practice Wednesday in preparation for Thursday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks at Canadian Tire Centre.

“Every day is a new day,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said. “You saw that (Tuesday). I don’t think it was about a streak. Our guys were up for the game. They played hard, came out hard and I definitely, really, liked that first period. That’s where the mind was. And that’s got to be the same next game. Start back at zero.”